CALL FOR APPLICATION
We are pleased to announce the
2023-24 edition of PREZIOSA YOUNGInternational contest/exhibition for young jewellery makers

Preziosa Young” is a biennial competition launched in 2008, dedicated to worldwide emerging artists, goldsmiths and designers. The aim is to contribute to the circulation of what is new in research jewellery, as well as showcase what the new generations of goldsmiths/designers/artists are “brewing”. The project was envisioned by LAO – Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School, which manages all organizational aspects and related costs. An international jury composed by curators, artists and critics selects a small number of young artists from all those who have submitted their candidature.
The names of the jurors who took part in the previous selections can be seen here.
The selected artists are hosted in a specially designed exhibition space as part of the Florence Jewellery Week.
A high-quality catalogue is published, to introduce the selected artists with a short biography, full colour images and a description of their work.
The selection is based on:
The quality of design
and manufacture of the pieces
The contemporary use of
the materials
The conceptual and technical
innovation
The contest provides a high level of quality, both conceptual and technical.
The participants are young professionals, who already have their own activity and a demonstrable curriculum. PY is not suitable for students who still attend schools or academies, or recently graduated.
Participants
We invite worldwide artists, goldsmiths, silversmiths, designers and young professionals to present projects that illustrate the work in which they are currently involved.
PY is not suitable for students or recently graduated.
Candidates must not be more than 35 years old in 2023.
Costs
Entries are free of charge apart from the costs for the shipment and related insurance of the items to and from Florence for the selected artists. Insurance during the exhibition(s) are at the charge of the organizer.
Materials and techniques
Items submitted for the competition can be handcrafted, or produced by machinery, in 3D technology, etcetera. It is not the manufacturing process what determines the quality of the objects. Furthermore, the objects can be made in any material.
Awards
- Preziosa prize.
The works of the selected participants are presented in Florence, in conjunction with FLORENCE JEWELLERY WEEK, which will take place in spring 2024. And a full colour catalogue will be published.
- LAO special prize.
One of the selected artists is invited to Florence for a period of one to three months as Artist in residence.
- Inhorgenta prize.
One of the selected artists is awarded with a free space for the participation as exhibitor to the following edition of the fair.
Application
Applicants must fill out the registration form and provide all requested information.
In the registration session it is necessary to provide a few personal details, such as full name, phone number, e-mail address. After submitting the registration the system generates a verification message and sends it to the e-mail address provided by the candidate, who can then start uploading information and images in one or more sessions until the candidate decides to close the registration process.
To prepare the material in advance, please look at the following page.
Deadline
November 15th, 2023
Selection
The jury will make the first selection based on the images and texts submitted by the applicants. The creative process, the motives and objectives of the candidate should then be illustrated as best as possible, either with high-quality images and through their statements. If the jury deems it necessary the candidates will be invited to submit their items for final evaluation. PRIVACY of the selection process. Participants are identified by an automatically generated numerical code upon registration. In order to guarantee total anonymity the jury only has access to the data necessary for selection (images, explanatory texts, artist’s statement), but not to the name and personal data of the candidates.
Exclusion from the contest
To preserve the privacy process candidates should NOT include their name or other references to their own person in the presentation texts (statement, description of work, captions, web address, social address, etc.). Candidates who do not respect this rule will be disqualified from the competition.
Candidates must not be more than 35 years old in 2022.
Exhibition
The PREZIOSA YOUNG exhibition will take place in Florence in conjunction with the international exhibition/conference Florence Jewellery Week 2024. The organizers could also plan other exhibitions along the year. By entering the competition candidates automatically accept the obligation – if selected – to deliver their works to all the scheduled events. The winners of the competition must send a congruous number of objects for the scheduled exhibitions, according to the indications by the organizers.
These pieces must be the same or similar to those submitted for the selection.
Shipment
The shipping costs of the pieces (for the selection and for the exhibition), from the origin to Firenze and back home must be paid by the submitters. It is up to the artists to decide whether to insure and/or send their pieces by registered mail. Shipment costs from Firenze to/by other exhibition locations are borne by the organization.
Material requested for the online registration.
1. Full name
2. Full address
3. Phone number (home/office/handy), with full international code and area code
4. Email address. Please note that all communications with the candidates are conducted by e-mail. To this end, is very important to use an internationally valid internet address, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail
5. Education/work experience
6. Short statement (Max 3000 characters including spaces).
7. Images of 5 objects to submit for the contest.
Each object can be illustrated with up to 5 images.
Accepted files: JPG format, minimum size, 2400×1600 pixel; minimum resolution 300 DPI.
8. Captions for each object. Captions must be in English language, in the format as follow:
For each image:
- Title.
- Typology.
- Year.
- Materials.
- Size of the object: Height, width, depth, in millimetres.
- Credits (photograph, collectors, others)
We suggest submitting still life images, whit a white or black background.
Please note that pictures of worn pieces can be accepted only in case of obvious difficulty in photographing the objects in still life.
Images with non-compliant captions are excluded from the competition.
Facsimile of caption to be used for each image.
Purple rain. Ring, 2018.
Silver, titanium, emerald, plastics, stainless steel.
50 x 42x 38
Foto credits: Name Surname.